Greek salad

Greek salad, choriatiki or horiatiki ( or ) is a salad in Greek cuisine generally made with pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, and olives (typically Kalamata olives) and dressed with salt, Greek oregano, lemon juice and olive oil. Common additions include green bell pepper or caper berries (especially on the Cyclades islands). Greek salad is often imagined as a farmer's breakfast or lunch, as its ingredients resemble those that a Greek farmer might have on hand.

Outside Greece

thumb|right|An [[American cuisine|American-style Greek salad with lettuce]]

Outside Greece, "Greek salad" may be a lettuce salad with Greek-inspired ingredients, even though the original dish is distinguished by the absence of lettuce. Meanwhile, the variant without lettuce may be called , 'peasant salad', or 'village salad'.

However in most European countries, including the UK, the dish broadly resembles the original.

In an American-style Greek salad, lettuce, tomatoes, feta (often served in multiple cube-shaped cuttings mixed with the vegetables), and olives are the most standard elements, but cucumbers, peperoncini (pickled hot peppers), bell peppers, onions, radishes, dolmades, and anchovies/sardines are common. Regional variants may include unusual components, e.g. in Detroit, beets, and in the Tampa Bay area, potato salad. Dressings containing various herbs and seasonings are frequently used in the U.S. These styles of Greek salad are rarely encountered in Greece.

Various other salads have also been called "Greek" in the English language in the last century, including some with no apparent connection to Greek cuisine. A 1925 Australian newspaper described a Greek salad of boiled squash dressed with sour milk; a 1934 American newspaper described a mayonnaise-dressed lettuce salad with shredded cabbage and carrots.

Other salads in Greece and Cyprus

thumb|right|Cretan salad

There are many other salads in Greek cuisine. These include:

(; a salad with lettuce, onion and dill)
(; a shredded fresh cabbage salad dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic)
(; boiled and sliced beetroots, sometimes with beet greens as well, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar)
(; rocket (arugula) dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar or lemon juice, possibly including anchovies)
(; a potato salad with olive oil, finely sliced onions, lemon juice or vinegar)
(; a chickpea salad)
(; a parsley salad usually used as a condiment)
Cypriot salad, native to the island of Cyprus, consists of finely chopped tomatoes, capers, cucumbers, onions, flat-leaf parsley, feta cheese, dressed with olive oil and lemon or red wine vinegar, and closely resembles the "Greek salad" of Greece.

Some spreads and dips found in the meze of Greek cuisine are also called "salads" in Greek, such as melitzanosalata, taramasalata and tzatziki.

Gallery

Griechischer Salat, Arki (Dodekanes).JPG|Horiatiki salad as served in the Dodecanese islands

File:Greek Salad from Thessaloniki.jpg|Greek salad in Thessaloniki

Moussaka and Greek Salad at a taverna in Greece.jpg|Horiatiki salad served with moussaka in Laconia, Peloponnesus

Flickr - cyclonebill - Græsk salat.jpg|Greek salad as served in other countries. The main differences are the serving of the feta cheese in multiple cube-shaped cuttings instead of a single rectangular-piece and the more liberal supply of onion.

Græsk salat (8552414648).jpg|Greek-inspired salad as served in Copenhagen, Denmark

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Outside Greece

Other salads in Greece and Cyprus

Gallery

See also

Notes

References